Variable speed drive for washing machines and the like



NOV. l1, 94l- A. R. CARMICHAEI.

VARIABLE SPEED DRIVE FOR WASHING MACHINES AND THE LIKE Filed July 18, 1940 zNvENToR. HND/nw A. FWN/rma.

/ mmv/Srs.

Patented Nov. ll, 1941 KFFICE VARIABLE SPEED DRIVE FOR WASHING MACHINES AND THE 'LIKE` Andrew R. CarmichaeLvFishers, Ind., assigner of one-half to Harry L. Black,.Fishers, Ind.

Application July 18, 1940, Serial No. 346,107

11 Claims.

This invention relates to a rotary, reciprocatory drive suitable for washing machines, and the like, although not necessarily restricted thereto, and this invention is an improvement upon the basic invention disclosed in the prior Patent No. 2,196,056 dated April 2, 1940, and entitled, Variable speed drive for washing machines and the like.

The chief object of this invention is to provide a drive which in one embodiment is adapted to transform rotational movement into reciprocatory movement.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device wherein power transformation is affected as aforesaid, and which device is capable of utilizing a constantly rotating source of power and deriving therefrom a continuously, reciprocatory power application at variable speeds and in variable amounts or vice versa.

The present invention, as distinguished from that disclosed in the patent aforesaid, is directed to the driving by one shaft `of another shaft substantially at right angles theretobut offset therefrom and through the medium of meshing gears, and means including the variable arrangemen for obtaining the desired vdrive effect.

The present invention `also is distinguished from t-hat disclosed in the beforementioned patent in relation to the control of the variable control elements.

The chief features of the invention consist inv the manually operable lock and adjusting means for varying the adjustment to obtain variable drive and the arrangement whereby two shaftsA at right angles to each other or at another angle but offset therefrom, have a driving arrangement therebetween and of a character previously described.

rDhe full nature of the invention will be understood from :the accompanying drawing and th following description and claims: i

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional View of the variable drive arrangement, the power beingv omitted therefrom for clearness, the Variable driving arrangement being shown in" plan.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but at right angles thereto, the manual control arrangement being shown in side elevation.

Fig. 3 is a view substantially transverse to Figs. 1 and 2 and of the variable drive arrangement.

As shown in the beforementioned patentya washing machine includes a tub structureand extending upwardly therein is a shaft adapted for reciprocation, more especially oscillation. Ex- 55 pivotallymounted as at 21 upon the shaft tending externally and as shown in the patent, there is a shaft which is arranged to drive a wringer structure and this` wringer structure is pivotally mounted on a support enclosing said shaft arrangement and, therefore, is adapted to be locked in any one of a plurality of selected positions and the wringer rolls are rotated by the shaft last mentioned. This shaft is driven through bevel gears and the like, from the main power shaft.

Herein, see Fig. 1, the main power shaft is indicated by the numeral I0. It is slotted as at Il and receives a tongue I2 on a shaft I3 carrying a bevel gear that meshes with the bevel gear of the wringer shaft. The control between .this shaft and the wringer rolls specifically is conventional, and in View of the disclosure in the aforesaid patent and this type of mechanism being of well known character in the art, no further description will be had thereto nor is the same illustrated herein. f

The shaft Il] mounts a worm wheel I4 which meshes with the worm, shown dotted in the housing I5, see Fig. 1, and which is driven by a motor through a speed reduction, or the like, if desired, and the motor may have the usual switch control and extension cord for outlet connection, all of the latter being conventional and accordingly not illustrated herein.

This drive arrangement is enclosed within a housing I5 that is supported by a housing ar'- rangement I6, and in Ithe housing arrangement I6 thereis supported a driven shaft I1. rlhe shaft is the oscillator drive shaft of the Washing machine proper. Shaft I'I mounts a pinion IB, the latter meshing with va segmental gear arrangement IS driven by the shaft Ill. This shaft I0 previously mentioned, is rotatably 4supported and yconstantly rotated and is supported in the elongated bearing 2i] extending inwardly into the housing IB from one sidethereof. l

Pivotally supported upon an axis as at 2l is what maybe termed a trunnion ring structure 22 which in turn, at right angles to the pivotal support 2l, is providedl with inwardly directed pivots 23, the latter being at right angles tothe pivots 2l but coplanar therewith. A ring 24 is carried, by the pivots 23 and thus the intermediate ring 2t and outer ring 22 have pivotal connection and' one may swing relative to the other and both may swing with respect to pivot 2|.

This intermediate ring 24 is rotatable' in a grooved inner ring 25, and the latter includes a projecting lug arrangement 26. The ring 25 is and accordingly rotates therewith. The outer ring 22 includes an extension in the form of the segmental gear I9.

A pair of links 3U is pivotally connected as at 3| to the lug 26 and lie upon opposite sides of the shaft |0, see Fig. 3. The opposite ends of said links 36 are pivotally connected at 32, see Fig. 1, to a lug 33 carried by a sleeve 134 which is capable of longitudinal movement parallel to the axis of the shaft ID'. The shaft |0 includes a serrated or toothed elongated portion 35, as`

shown in Fig. 1.

A lug 36 directed oppositely from lug 32 and upon the sleeve portion 34 pivotally supports at 31 a dog or pawl 38 which terminatesina toothed end portion 39 and a beveled opposite portion 40. The sleeve 34 is laterally enlarged as at 4| for bearing purposes.

The housing I6 includes a tubular extensionv 42 with a central bearing portion 43 at its' remote and'closedy end and the latter is apertured as at 44 and slidably supports a member 45. The member 45 within the housing extension 42 includes an enlargement 46 and the same is received within chamber 41 of a cap structure 48 having threaded connection 49 with the threaded end of the sleeve 34. It is to be observed that enlargement 4| of said sleeve is slidably supported and rotatably supported in the tubular extension 42.

forms a bearing therefor, is responsive to movement of member 45 and is rotatable in response to rotation of shaft Il! by reason of the link connection therebetween.

Slidably supported on a reduced portion 5I of the sleeve 34 is a collar arrangement 52 and a spring 53 concentric with the sleeve 34 has one end bearing against said collar 52 and the other end bearing against the cap 48 and thus the collar is always normally constrained toward the left or remote from the cap.

This collar threadedly supports, or the same is otherwise secured to the collar, a pin or plunger 55 and said pin or plunger is slidably supported as at'56 in the enlargement 4|. The end 51 of said plunger is tapered as at 58 and normally bears von the tapered face 4|! of the member 38-39 and serves to maintain the toothed portion 39 of the dog or pawl in engagement with the" toothed portion of the shaft I0.

f From the foregoing, therefore, it will be apparent that when the collar 52 is manually retracted to the right in opposition to spring 5|, the plunger or locking member 55 is retracted from engagement' with the member 38 and when such disengagement is effected, centrifugal force normally tends to tilt member 38 outwardly on pivot 31 and thus insures disengagement of the toothed portion 39 of said dog or pawl from the toothed portion of the shaft I0.

- It also is to be noted that the slope of the teeth on the shaft I0 and member 39 may be such that axial relative movement of sleeve 34 to shaft l0 will positively cause pawl disengagement, hence, centrifugal operation need not be necessary.

' lWhen this has been accomplished, axial movement of the member 45 is translated into axial movement of the sleeve 34 relative to the shaft ID land'such axial movement of said sleeve is transmitted by means of the links 30 to the lug 26 and the ring member 25 carrying the same. Therefore, the ring member 25 is tilted in substantially .the same manner and for the same purpose that the similar parts are tilted by the.

The sleeve 34 thus is capable of axial longitudinal movement on the shaft |0,

links 58 in the afore-mentioned patent. When the proper adjustment has been made herein, the collar 52 is released to its constraint, to wit, spring 58 and the plunger 55 is again projected toward the pawl 39 and operatively engages the same at 40 and insures pawl locking of the sleeve to the shaft |ll insofar as relative axial movement therebetween is concerned.

It will be noted that when the plunger 55 is retracted in opposition to its constraint, the pawl 38 can disengage from the shaft I0 and move outwardly under the action of centrifugal'force Vbut cannot escape to such an extent that the portion 39is sufficiently free so that the plunger 51 vcannot reengage the same and force the pawl into tooth engagement on the shaft. It will, of course, be obvious that the sleeve 34 is apertured, as indicated at 60, to permit the pawl end 39 to have access to the serrated portion of the shaft I0.

The means for shifting the collar 52 in opposition to its constraint includes a yoke memberl 6| which' rides in a groove 62 formed in the collar 52. This yoke member is connected to a rod 63 that is slidably supported in the end portion of the housing and which extends through the aperture 64 in the closure 43 of that housing.

Reference now will be had more particularly to the right hand portions of Figs. 1 and 2, wherein the manual controls for member 45 and rod 63 are illustrated.

A vertical extending rockshaft 65 is rotatably supported at its upper and lower ends, the' latter supportV being illustrated as extension 66 of the tubular` housing 42. l This shaft preferably is prevented from axial movement by suitable means, such as the collar 61, which rides the support 66 and is pinned as at 68 to the shaft 65. This shaft 65 has secured to it as at 69 a bracket structure 10 having anv arm 1|. This arm 1| is connected by a link 12 as at 13 to the member 45 as'at 14. So that whenever the shaft 65 is rocked 'in clockwise or reversed direction, the member 45 is projected into Athe housing 42 or retracted therefrom.

T he dotted line Afin Fig. 1 indicates what may be termed the neutral position of the arrangement to which reference will be had hereinafter. The dotted line B indicates the approximate maximum possible clockwise rocking ofshaft 65. When this shaft 65 is arranged so that the member 45 is fully retracted substantially as shown inthe figures, the parts are in the neutral posi-` tion, as it were which means that the shaft |0 while continuously rotating, does not rotate the oscillation drive shaft |1. Therefore, this means that whatever is connected to shaft |1, suchas the agitator in the tub portion of the washing machine, 4willrremain stationary. Furthermore, the construction issuch that whenvthe rockshaft 65 is in this position, the agitator always assumes the same position with. respect to the tub.

In certain types of washing machines, the agitatormay'be of cylindrical Yor drum type and the tub may have an opening for accessto the drum for loadingandunloading all clothes. With this type ofstructure, therefore, the drum can be located on the shaft |1 so that the opening in the drum for clothes loading or unloading will register with. the opening in the tub when the rockshaft 65 is positioned in theneutral position. This is givenv byway of explanation only ofthe utility of the neutralposition arrangement.

`Pivotally mounted at on the rockshaft 65 is an anglejlever or handle 8| andto the same' is:I

Vthe cotter key 81. -mounted on the shaft 88 as at..89-,. the shaft being 2,262,096 connected, as at 82, a rod 83. This rod-,see Fig.

retained by the nut 90in a bracket 9| carriedon the rockshaft 65 and herein thearm H andthe bracket Sl are integral.

The shaft 88 includes an upward :extension 92 and the same is provided with spacing. andretaining nuts 93. The arm 92 extends through an opening 94 in the member 95. LThis member S is curved as indicated at `ll--see Fig. l-and includes an offset portion as indicatedv at 91'- see Fig. 2. The end 98 thereof is rigidly secured tothe opposite end of the rod 63 as atV 99.

When the handle 8l is tilted upwardly into the dotted line position, as lshown in Fig. 2, the arm 86 is tilted upwardly and as a result thereof the arm 92 is tilted clockwise-see Fig. Z-which means that the rod 63 is moved toward the right and consequently the collar 52 is moved toward the right in opposition to its constraint 53 for retraction of the plunger 51. When this position has been obtained, then the sleeve 34 can be adjusted relative to the shaft l0 and inasmuch as the handle 8| is pivoted on the rockshaft 65, the handle 8l can be used and is used to rotate the rockshaft into the adjusted position.

Any suitable dial arrangement having the markings Fast, Medium, Slow, and Neutral may be associated with the upper end of the rockshaft which would then carry an indicator. If desired, such scale may be arranged to designate fabrics, such as linen, woolen, silks, et cetera.

After the rockshaft 65 has been moved by the handle 8l into adjusted position, the handle is released and drops by gravity into the full line position shown in Fig. 2. When it is dropped into that position, the sleeve 34 and the shaft I0 are again locked together in the adjusted position and by pawl 38-39.

The present construction mechanically is capable of rotating or reciprocating the oscillating drive shaft I1 approximately 315. By offsetting the arrangement relative to the shaft l1 and by having the gear I9 of larger diameter, it will be quite apparent the shaft l1 can be rotated a larger amount and can be oscillated to an extent that it would have even more than one complete revolution before reversing the direction of rotation. This is set forth for the purpose of explanation inasmuch as the present disclosure of 315 is illustrative only and it is not intended` as a disclosure limitation.

It will be apparent that the entire housing I6 and its extension 42 and the housing I5 may be packed with lubricant or retain oil therein for lubrication and thus the entire mechanism operate in oil or grease, as desired or required, and in this event, the openings 44 and 64 and the bearings with relation to the shaft I0 may be sealed by suitable packing additions and the like, common in the mechanical arts, to retain such lubrication and prevent loss thereof.

In that event, if necessary, the oscillating drive shaft I1 may be provided with an umbrella-like guard, not shown, to prevent the lubricant from working up that shaft so that any that does Work up the shaft will be trapped by this umbrella guard and will be discharged downwardly to the main body of the lubricant and will not pass into the tub and thus soil the clothes ibeing washed, if the deviceis applied to a washing'machine.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in great detail in the drawing and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character.

The several modifications described herein as well as others vwhich will readily suggest themselves to persons skilled in this art, allare considered to be within the broad scope of the invention, reference being had to the appended claims. v

The invention claimed is:

l. A variable drive including two shafts at right angles to each other, a pinion gear .on one shaft and gear means meshing therewith and operatively connected to the other shaft,la connection connecting the gear means and said other shaft together including means. pivotally mounted on an axis transverser to the axis of said other shaft, means pivotally mounted relative to the last mentioned means and upon an axis transverse to the pivotal axis rst mentioned and pivotally supported upon another, and transverse axis, means interposed between the two pivotally mounted means and rotatably mounted upon the first mentioned means and having pivotal connectionwith the secondmentioned means, and manually operable means for tilting the first mentioned means upon its axis for drive Variation.

2. In a Variable drive, including a constant speed shaft, another shaft, and means therebetween including a plurality of ring-like members having a rotary to oscillatory transformation connection, the combination of a sleeve axially shiftable upon the first shaft and connected to said means, an elongated serrated arrangement upon the first shaft, a pawl carried by the sleeve and adapted to lock same to the serrated shaft, means for locking the pawl in serration engagement, and means for axially shifting the sleeve. i

3. A drive as defined by claim 2, characterized by the pawl being centrifugally movable out of serration engagement, and means preventing pawls displacement beyond locking means cooperation, said locking means being arranged to move the pawl into serration engagement in opposition to centrifugal force.

4. A device as defined by claim 2, characterized by the pawl locking means including a plunger adapt-ed to engage the pawl for the purpose described, a sleeve normally constrained fo pawl locking position and controlling said pawl and slidable upon the first mentioned sleeve, and longitudinally movable manually operable means for second sleeve movement.

5. A device as defined by claim 2, characterized by the first shaft terminating within the sleeve, the latter having a centrally apertured end spaced from the shaft termination, and the sleeve shifting means extending into the sleeve end aperture and coaxially aligned with the first shaft and terminating in an enlargement between the shaft end and apertured end of the sleeve.

6. A device as defined by claim 1, characterized by the addition of a housing into which the second shaft extends and from kwhich the first shaft projects, said housing being arranged for lubricant retention.

7. A combination control for the two last mentioned means recited by claim 2, including a rockshaft, rotation thereof shifting the sleeve through the last mentioned means, a handle carried by the rockshaft for rocking same and tiltable thereon, and means connecting the handle to the first mentioned means for controlling the lock ing and unlocking of the pawl.

8. A combination control forthe two last mentioned means recited by claim 2, including a rockshaft, rotation thereof shifting the sleeve through the last mentioned means, a handle carried-by the rockshaft for rocking same and tiltable thereon, and means connecting the handle to the rst mentioned means for controlling the locking and unlocking of the pawl, the rockshaft when moved to one extreme limit position being then in neutral and movement of one shaft being ineffective for other shaft movement, the stationary shaft always locating in the same relative position substantially as described.

9. A combination control for the two last mentioned means recited by claim 2, including a rockshaft, rotation thereof shifting the sleeve through the last mentioned means, a, handle carried by the rockshaft for rocking same and tiltable thereon, and means connecting the handle to the first mentioned means for controlling the locking and unlocking of the pawl, the rockshaft when moved to the eXtreme limit position other` than the neutral position insuring movement of one shaft by the other shaft for maximum angu- .lari dispIacement and at the maximum 'rate of speed. v

10. vA drive as defined by claim 2, characterized 'bythe'pawl being centrifugally movable out of serration engagement, and means preventing pawl displacement beyond locking means cooperation, said lockingmeans being arranged to move the pawl into serration engagement in opposition to centrifugal force, the pawl locking means including a plunger adapted to engage the .pawl for the purpose described, a sleeve normally constrained to pawl locking position and controllingsaid pawl and slidable upon the first mentioned sleeve, and longitudinally movable manually operable means for second sleeve movement.

11. A device as defined by claim 1, characterized by the addition of a housing into which the second shaft extends and from which the first shaft projects, said housing being arranged for lubricant retention, the second shaft terminating within thesleeve, the latter having a centrally apertured end spaced from the shaft termination, and the sleeve shifting means extending into the sleeve end aperture and coaxially aligned with the second shaft and terminating in an enlargement between the shaft end and apertured end of the sleeve.

ANDREW R. CARMICHAEL. 

